Author: Derek Bowler

Journalists at Storyful witness some of the most graphic and disturbing content emerging from social media on a minute-by-minute basis. Though these journalists are not directly involved in the events they report, the repeated exposure to distressing images, and the need to analyse them closely for verification purposes, can have an emotional effect. This can manifest itself in a form of vicarious trauma. Storyful journalist Derek Bowler discusses the important steps taken by the company to ensure the Read more…

Storyful is proud to launch a new podcast on iTunes, in which we open up the world of social media journalism, discussing all the opportunities and challenges it brings. With each episode, we hope to engage you in a conversation about this rapidly moving industry, and its impact on journalism. We hope you’ll engage with us at blog@storyful.com and give us plenty of feedback. At Storyful, we’ve been reporting global events using social media for a relatively long Read more…

A gunman opened fire at a Bible study meeting inside the Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal (AME) Church in Charleston, South Carolina, on June 17, killing nine people. As news broke of the shooting, Storyful journalists Derek Bowler and Rachael Kennedy began working to verify social content around the incident, including looking for updates on the identity of the shooter, who had seemingly escaped. Here’s an inside view of how they found him. To read more, see the original Read more…

Artillery fire near the Ukrainian town of Volnovakha, south of the city of Donetsk, struck a civilian bus on January 13, killing 13 people. Ukraine’s internal affairs department spokesman Vyacheslav Abroskin confirmed the incident in a post on Facebook, claiming that the artillery was fired by pro-Russian separatists near the Ukrainian town. However, separatists denied responsibility. In the hours following the incident, Denis Krivosheev, Deputy Europe and Central Asia Director at Amnesty International, called for an investigation into Read more…

Over the past 10 days, the world has been made to stand up and take notice of a student-led civil disobedience campaign in Hong Kong. Beijing’s decision to reject calls for open nominations for the election of Hong Kong’s chief executive in 2017 has angered Hong Kong’s pro-democracy campaigners, leading to days and nights of civil unrest in the former British colony. With the demonstrations escalating, police resorted to using pepper spray and tear gas on unarmed demonstrators, Read more…